Hollywood has always loved a monster movie. From early 20th century classics like Nosferatu (1922), Frankenstein (1931), and The Mummy (1932) to more modern takes like … Nosferatu (2024), Frankenstein (2025), and The Mummy (1999), audiences’ adoration for tales of terrifying, tragic, and often misunderstood creatures knows no bounds. Monsters are just fun to watch, and their stories’ themes remain universal.
Whether you prefer vampires, werewolves, demons, aliens, zombies, or something a little more indefinable, you’ll find it on this list. Keep scrolling for all your creature feature needs on Netflix.
Bloodsuckers beware! Jamie Foxx is on the job in this supernatural action comedy you can really sink your teeth into. Day Shift follows Bud Jablonski (Foxx), who poses as a pool cleaner to cover for his real job: vampire hunter. But business hasn’t been booming for Bud. In order to get out of debt and pay for his daughter’s tuition, he reluctantly approaches his old army buddy (Snoop Dogg) for help in rejoining the vampire-hunting union that previously kicked him out. By the time a vampire (Karla Souza) captures his family, Bud means business — even with his union rep, Seth (Dave Franco), watching his every move.
You know the story: Jonathan Harker (John Heffernan) travels to a remote castle in Transylvania, where he meets Count Dracula (Claes Bang), who wreaks Gothic havoc on the populace wherever he goes. But co-creators Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat (Doctor Who) reenvision Bram Stoker’s classic vampire tale in this three-episode horror drama. This Dracula makes his way to England, yes, but not in the way he initially planned. (Revealing too much more would be a spoiler.) The count is also forced to do battle with the legendary vampire hunter Van Helsing’s descendents — including Dolly Wells (Inside Man) as Sister Agatha Van Helsing — who will sacrifice anything to ensure Dracula’s demise.
Crockett Island is home to 127 souls, all of whom can’t help but whisper when Riley (Zach Gilford) — who left their isolated community behind years ago — returns after serving four years in prison for a drunk driving accident. Simultaneously, a charismatic new priest, Father Paul Hill (Hamish Linklater), arrives on the island. Father Hill claims that their regular priest, the elderly Monsignor Pruitt (also Linklater), is on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. But mysterious events soon befall the island. The town’s mistrustful residents begin to point fingers at anyone they deem an outsider — and something is stalking them from the shadows in Mike Flanagan’s vampiric miniseries.
Upon Jack Morton’s (Jake Manley) tenuous acceptance to the fictional Belgrave University, he finds himself drawn into a mysterious world of magic and monsters. He’s recruited to the Hermetic Order of the Blue Rose, a secret society that teaches and practices magic. But that’s all part of the plan. Years ago, Jack’s mother died under mysterious circumstances, and Jack and his grandfather (Matt Frewer) blame Jack’s estranged father, Edward Coventry (Max Martini), for her death. Joining the Blue Rose is just the first step in Jack’s revenge plot. But first, he’ll have to contend with the werewolves roaming the campus, many of whom seem especially drawn to Jack.
If you want your werewolves with a side of teen drama and romance, check out this 2010s Tumblr favorite. Nothing interesting ever happens in Beacon Hills, California — until half a body is found in the woods. Dorky teenager Scott McCall (Tyler Posey) and his best pal, the hyperactive Stiles Stilinski (Dylan O’Brien), go in search of said body, only for Scott to be bitten by a werewolf. Scott transforms, and soon comes into contact with a variety of other monsters — including more werewolves (played by Tyler Hoechlin, Shelley Hennig, and others), demons, druids, and even dreaded werewolf hunters — all while trying to impress the beautiful new girl, Allison Argent (Crystal Reed).
Based on the Wereworld novels by Curtis Jobling, this animated series is an epic fantasy adventure that follows 16-year-old Drew Ferran (voiced by Ceallach Spellman), who learns that he has a great destiny — whether he likes it or not. Not only is he a werewolf, but he’s also the rightful heir to dethroned wolf king Wergar. Drew’s mere existence is a threat to the menacing werelion king, Leopold (Ralph Ineson). Drew and his allies embark on a treacherous journey to overthrow Leopold and his son, Prince Lucas (Tom Rhys Harries), and bring peace to their land.
In space, no one can hear you scream. Welcome aboard the Nostromo, a commercial towing vessel headed back to Earth from space. Its seven crew members — including Ripley (Sigourney Weaver), Dallas (Tom Skerritt), Lambert (Veronica Cartwright), Kane (John Hurt), and Ash (Ian Holm) — are pulled from cryosleep by the ship’s AI, “Mother,” after it detects a distress signal from an abandoned starship. Upon boarding the derelict vessel, they discover a fossilized alien corpse — and hostile lifeforms that infiltrate their own ship. The vicious, acid-blooded aliens begin to hunt the Nostromo crew down one by one in director Ridley Scott’s (Blade Runner) 1979 sci-fi horror classic.
Take one look at the entity in Jordan Peele’s sci-fi horror flick and you’ll find yourself uttering the film’s tongue-in-cheek title. The movie follows siblings OJ (Daniel Kaluuya) and Emerald Haywood (Keke Palmer), who take over their family’s horse ranch when their father (Keith David) dies. OJ tries to keep the remote ranch afloat with help from theme park owner Ricky “Jupe” Park (Steven Yeun), but Emerald sees a golden opportunity to make some real money with the unidentified flying object that’s wreaking havoc in the valley. She recruits an electronics store employee (Brandon Perea) and a famed cinematographer (Michael Wincott) to capture footage near their beleaguered home — and chaos ensues.
Full transparency: This series veers more “sci-fi comedy-slash-mystery” than horror, but look no further if you need some variety in your alien tales. When a shapeshifting alien crash-lands on Earth, he takes the form of Dr. Harry Vanderspeigle (Alan Tudyk), a resident of the quaint Patience, Colorado. All seems well until Harry is tasked with taking over the town’s clinic, where he encounters nurse Asta Twelvetrees (Sara Tomko) and the other eccentric locals (played by Corey Reynolds, Alice Wetterlund, and others). Sure, Harry’s bedside manner could use some work, but the real danger comes in the form of his true mission: He’s here to destroy the planet, and it’s only a matter of time before he succeeds.
A classic possession movie is always gonna hit the right (demonic) spot. When the lead in an upcoming horror film about an exorcist dies on set, he’s replaced by Anthony Miller (Russell Crowe), an aging actor struggling with addiction. While Miller is hopeful that the coveted priest role will change his life for the better, the movie’s demanding director (Adam Goldberg) and Miller’s own negative childhood experiences with Catholicism quickly begin to wear on his psyche. His daughter, Lee (Ryan Simpkins), grows concerned when her father starts to exhibit strange behavior, and she’s forced to contend with the possibility that the film’s demons might be all too real.
In the early ’90s, Hugh and Olivia Crain (Henry Thomas and Carla Gugino) move their young family into Hill House, a dilapidated mansion they plan to restore and then sell. It isn’t long before they start experiencing increasingly threatening paranormal phenomena. It all culminates in one horrible, life-altering night, and they flee the house, hoping never to return. But nearly three decades later, the traumatized remaining family members are brought together after another tragedy. Each of them has to face the (literal) ghosts of their past in Mike Flanagan’s beloved horror series, based on Shirley Jackson’s novel of the same name.
A smile can make your day. But the mysterious entity in this sequel flick about a beleaguered pop star will have you thinking twice about any seemingly friendly stranger you meet on the street. Skye Riley (Naomi Scott) is about to embark on her comeback tour, and despite facing crippling anxiety, being in recovery, and alienating those closest to her, she’s totally ready to go. But not so fast. Skye soon starts experiencing bizarre events that she can’t prove are real, and it seems that some sinister thing is behind it — feeding on her trauma and only becoming more powerful.
The third entry in creator Alex Garland’s 28 Days Later film series — about people living in a postapocalyptic world overrun by a virus that sends those who contract it into a homicidal rage — takes place 28 years after Cillian Murphy (Peaky Blinders) wandered through a deserted London. Danny Boyle (T2 Trainspotting) directs this horror flick about a boy, Spike (Alfie Williams), who undertakes a dangerous journey out of his fortified town. Spike defies his father (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) and escapes the island with his sick mother (Jodie Comer) in search of the eccentric Dr. Kelson (Ralph Fiennes), only to be beset by a wide variety of ultraviolent, fast-moving zombies.
Zack Snyder’s high-stakes heist is set in Las Vegas, which has been rendered unrecognizable by a zombie outbreak. The US military is one day away from eradicating the city with a nuclear strike. With only hours to spare, a billionaire tasks mercenary-turned-fry-cook Scott Ward (Dave Bautista) with recovering $200 million from an abandoned casino vault. To pull it off, he rounds up a band of thieves, including his friends (played by Ana de la Reguera, Omari Hardwick, Tig Notaro, and Matthias Schweighöfer) and his estranged daughter (Ella Purnell). As they fight their way through hordes of zombies, the group learns that even the end of the world isn’t free of political hierarchies.
It’s impossible to talk about zombies without mentioning The Walking Dead. Based on Robert Kirkman’s comic series, the drama centers on Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln), a small-town sheriff who awakens from a coma to find that society has been overtaken by a virus that turns living beings into undead “walkers” that feed on human flesh. Rick becomes the leader of a group of survivors (played by Norman Reedus, Steven Yeun, Danai Gurira, and more) who work together to reclaim a semblance of the world they once knew. The zombies deteriorate more and more as the series marches on across 11 seasons, making for some truly unsettling, monstrous visuals.
What, exactly, is Michael Myers? Yes, horror aficionados know that the iconic villain is a psychiatric patient who, as a child, killed his older sister and then escaped containment years later (in 1978) to hunt down innocent townies, including Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis). But that’s old news. As of 2018’s Halloween, Michael (portrayed by James Jude Courtney) is more of a legendary enigma than a plain ol’ serial killer. Director David Gordon Green’s sequel trilogy, concluding with Halloween Ends, reintroduces audiences to a now-grown Laurie, who’s more than equipped to go head-to-head with a 21st-century Michael Myers. However, this film asks one vital question: Can you really kill the embodiment of pure evil?
The Witcher is many things: An adaptation of Andrzej Sapkowski’s novels, a fantasy drama about the eternal pull between good and evil, and — for the purposes of this list — a smorgasbord of inventive, terrifying monsters. After all, the titular Witcher, Geralt of Rivia (Henry Cavill in Seasons 1–3 and Liam Hemsworth in Season 4), is a magically enhanced monster hunter. He just so happens to keep getting caught up in side quests, including a seemingly never-ending gig as Princess Ciri’s (Freya Allan) protector. But there are still plenty of monsters to see, including the insect-like kikimora, the cursed striga, and the invisible djinn. (OK, maybe that last one is a little tough to get your eyes on.)
When you were a kid, there’s a good chance you were convinced there was a monster in your closet or hiding under your bed. Terrifying! But what if that monster, claws and all, was real — and helped reshape your understanding of true love? Aspiring actor Laura Franco (Melissa Barrera) is grappling with a cancer diagnosis and a devastating breakup when she moves back into her childhood home. She rediscovers Monster (Tommy Dewey), who’s initially incensed that Laura has invaded his domicile. After all, she’s the one who decided to move away in the first place. But the pair grow closer, and Monster’s unexpected outlook on the world encourages Laura to face her fears and chase her onstage dreams.
